Contact: Maridith Geuder
Jack White
The veteran director of Mississippi State's honors program is this year's selection for the Scholar Award of the Mississippi Humanities Council.
Jack H. White, who for two decades has led the university's program for academically talented students, formally receives the award Feb. 6 during ceremonies in Jackson.
The honor recognizes a humanities scholar who has participated in MHC programs and been an effective interpreter of the humanities to public audiences.
White, a member of the English faculty, directs an undergraduate honors program that regularly enrolls more than 1,000 students and is one of the region's largest. He has guided many participants through the demanding process of qualifying for the Harry Truman, Barry Goldwater and George Mitchell scholarships and other prestigious national honors.
He also has served on the executive committee of the National Collegiate Honors Council and currently leads the organization's national conference site-selection committee.
White has held several leadership roles at the Mississippi Humanities Council, including two terms as chair and a term as vice chair. In these roles, he has represented the council at White House ceremonies, as well as the Mississippi Legislature and National Association of Lieutenant Governors.
"A primary reason for the founding of the national endowments and the state humanities programs was the involvement of scholars and academicians in community endeavors intended to inform out-of-school adults," White said.
MHC executive director Barbara Carpenter said White's involvement in the state program goes far beyond that of most. "There can be few people in the history of the council who have made contributions comparable to his," she said.
In addition to his MHC leadership roles, she cited White's:
--Decade-long leadership of the university's Performing Arts Committee, where he currently helps to plan the annual Lyceum Series.
--Service on the boards of directors for a number of state and local organizations, including the Mississippi Cultural Alliance (founding member), Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education, Starkville Community Theater, and Starkville-MSU Symphony.
--Work (with wife Emilie) as a charter member of the Friends of the Columbus Historic Foundation, a historic preservation support group.
--Service as an evaluator for numerous MHC-funded grant programs and participant in the council's speakers bureau.
--Reader of selected writings by Mississippi authors during the 1999 gubernatorial inauguration.
White said he is "honored and flattered that the council has chosen me as a representative of its worthy ideals and goals."
He added: "As one entrenched in the mission of a land-grant university, I have been fortunate to be associated with the Mississippi Humanities Council and its diverse community organizations."